The Meaning of Equivalent Exchange
by BlueJayWalker10
Summary: Now that Edward has had his limbs replaced and he is ready to go, he and Alphonse leave to Central to take the State Alchemy Exam. On the train to Central, Edward hears about a bizzare power near the ruins of Xerxes. At the time, he disregards the information- But years later, after the Liore fail, he remembers, and decides to investigate. Can it return what they have lost?
1. The Fullmetal Fool

Chapter 1

The Fullmetal Fool

 _Resembool, Amestris, 1912, Edward's POV_

 _Humankind cannot gain anything without giving something in return. To obtain, something of equal value must be lost._

 _That is Alchemy's first law of Equivalent Exchange._

 _In those days, we really believed, that to be the world's one, and only, truth._

 _-Alphonse Elric_

Alchemy. The world's ultimate science. The one thing we thought could do anything. Even bring back the dead.

But it can't.

That night, Alphonse and I made the biggest mistake of our lives.

"All right, Al. Do we have all the ingredients?" I said, preparing the transmutation circle.

My younger brother, Alphonse, began to look through our components while looking at a list that he held in his hand, muttering their as he checked each one carefully. "Water, ammonia, salt, saltpeter, phosphorus. . . . Yeah, brother! They're all here," he said.

I stood up, brushing the chalk of my hands and on to my pants. "Then let's do it." I began to carefully add them all into a large bucket that I had placed into the center of the circle.

"Edward. . . What about Equivalent Exchange? We have the body, but-but what about Mom's soul?" Al asked.

I took out a pocket knife and flicked it open. "Hold out your hand, Alphonse," I said softly as I held out my own.

Al held out his hand, and I cut the tip of his finger along with the tip of mine. "A drop of our blood; a drop of our souls, which came from her blood; her soul." I looked at Al. "That's a fair trade." We turned our hands over and let the blood drip into the mixture. "Ready?" He gave me a confident smile and nodded.

I took a deep, shaky breath, and knelt down in front of the circle. Al knelt beside me.

We placed our hands on the transmutation circle. It began to give off a glorious golden glow. Excitement flowed through me. We could see Mom again! But something felt very wrong.

Now, how do I explain this?

To use Alchemy, you need a transmutation circle. Also, the components of the object you're trying to create need to be the same or similar to the original object. That's where the law of Equivalent Exchange comes into play. But in order to use the transmutation circle and the components of whatever you're using, you need to like. . . . Hmm. . . How do I put this. . . . It's kind of like a natural reflex to Amestrians. It might different for Cretans or Xingeese or Drachmans, I really don't know. But you need to like, er, transfer Alchemic Energy to the circle. Like picture some of your energy, which is Alchemic Energy, flowing into the circle to power it. While you feel your energy flowing into it, you can also sort of feel the reaction; like positive or negative energy. If it feels right or wrong.

That night, it felt very wrong.

The golden glow turned a very dark shade of purplish black.

The transmutation circle opened up into a large eye.

"Brother!" Alphonse's alarmed voice shook me out of my shocked state. I looked to my left at the horrific sight and cried out.

Alphonse, my brother, _the only family I had left_ was being broken down with Alchemy and brought into the eye with black hands, right before my eyes.

" _Alphonse!_ " I shouted. I reached for his hand, but I was unable to grasp it.

" _Edward!_ " He jumped forward, struggling against against the hands, in one desperate attempt to grasp my hand.

Suddenly, as if a switch was thrown, I was pulled into a bright white void, with nothing but a large, gray, stone gate with the eye carved into it in front of me.

"What is this. . . ?" I muttered.

The door opened and I was sucked inside.

After that, everything was kind of a blur. I remember feeling like everything in the world was in there. I remember thousands- No, _millions_ , of the little hands all over me, tugging at me. _Where am- What is this place?_ I thought.

I looked around for a moment and saw something. _That's it! The one thing we're missing! The secret to Human Transmutation!_ I tried to get at it.

A few moments later, I was outside the gate again. And this time, there was a person there with me.

He was completely white, with sort of a black blotchy outline, so he was barely visible.

I pounded on the door. "Hey! Let me back in there! One more look! The secret to it is in there, I know it!" I screamed.

" _Well, you know, little Alchemist, you can only go in there once. One time per person,"_ the figure behind me said.

I turned around and looked at him. "What are you?" I asked.

" _I am known as God, or as the earth. I am known as Truth. I am all; I am none. But most importantly, I am_ you," the creature said. " _And there is a law to follow. . . ."_

I felt a weird thing on my left leg and looked at it. I stared in dread as the black hands I had seen within the gate taking it apart, bringing it back into the gate.

Then the pain began to register. I was brought back to our father's lab, without my leg. I was sobbing and crying out for Alphonse. Then I saw the decrepit scene that was the Alchemy Laboratory.

The two sets of armor that my father, Hohenheim had left behind were knocked over. The research papers that had been kept ever so tidily on his desk were strewn all over the place. Alphonse's clothing lay neatly out on the floor beside me. My blood was splashing everywhere as I screamed.

"This. . . This. . . W-w-wasn't supp-p-osed to h-h-h happen! Th-this isn't what-what we wanted!" I shrieked.

"Bleeeaaaaaa. . . . . ." a faint, breathy, scratchy voice groaned. I looked up and saw a pale hand rise into view above the smoke.

I almost smiled. "Mom?"

Then I saw the rest of it. It was a gruesome sight. The hand was the _only_ thing about it that looked even remotely like my mother. The rest of the body was all bent out of shape. It was a skin bag with bones inside it, but the bones weren't even placed properly. It had glowing purple eyes and light chestnut hair. It reached out to me.

I began to wail like a two year old who needed a nap and had a cookie taken from them. But I didn't care. My twelve year old dignity didn't matter to me at that very moment. I turned away from the morbid sight and tried to ignore the creature that we had created.

I dragged myself over to one of the sets of armor that had tumbled to the floor.

"Give him back to me! Alphonse!" I sobbed. "Take my arm, my leg, my heart, _anything dammit!_ JUST GIVE HIM BACK TO ME!" I screeched at the top of my lungs, using my blood to draw a transmutation circle inside the armor. Using the circle, I managed to bind Alphonse's soul to the armor. I lost my arm to the hands for that. _Why?_ I thought. _Why do they want my arm too?_

 _Equivalent Exchange, Little Alchemist. . . ._ the creature's voice echoed in my head. _Your arm for his soul. A fair trade, don't you think? You were lucky. His soul was barely lost before you pulled it back._

After that, I blacked out.

 _Resembool, Amestris, 1912, Alphonse's POV_

I awoke, feeling nothing. I groaned and looked to the side- And saw the grisly sight that was my brother. He was unconscious in a pool of his own blood, his left leg and right arm both stumps. "Edward!" I cried, scrambling to my feet. _My body. . . Why can't I feel anything? Why am I so big?_ I looked at my hands. _No. ._

I was an empty suit of armor.

 _No time to dwell on it now!_ I thought, scooping Ed into my arms. _I have to get him help!_ I ran out of Hohenheim's Alchemy Laboratory, out of the house. I ran through the pounding rain to the Rockbell's home, hoping that it wasn't too late for Ed.

I collapsed at the front door and pounded on it. Pinako answered the door. Her pipe fell to the floor when she saw Edward.

"Please. . . . Help him!" I cried, sobbing. I bowed my head. "Please. . ."

"Winry, come quickly!" Pinako called. She looked at me. "Bring him inside." She pointed to the bed that they used while attaching the ports for automail.

"Right!" I stood up and carried him to the bed, setting him on it gently.

Pinako and Winry got to work on taking care of his wounds.

Winry stopped for a moment, then turned around and looked at me. "Alphonse. . . . Is that you?"

 _Resembool, Amestris, 1912, Edward's POV_

When I began to regain consciousness, I heard Pinako talking with a man.

". . . . perform human transmutation and survive. . ." the man was saying. "Well, their father just dropped on my priority list," he said. "When he wakes up, tell him that Lieutenant Colonel Roy Mustang dropped by, and to pay me a visit sometime." I heard footsteps that I assumed were his walk out of the room. The door closed.

Pinako muttered something about State Alchemist Dogs of the Military and not telling me about Mustang.

I groaned and tried to sit up, but toppled over. Pinako walked over to me.

"Now Ed, don't push yourself. You've lost a lot of blood and you're still recovering," she said. "You gave us quite the scare."

I looked at the stump that was my arm, covered in tight, bloody bandages. I assumed my leg looked the same. I let my head go limp and drop back onto the pillow, releasing a sigh of defeat as I drifted back into oblivion.

When I awoke again, it was Winry waking me up, trying to get me to eat. "Come on, Edward!" she was saying. "You need to eat to keep your strength up!"

Pinako walked into the room. "Edward, I came in here to tell you, if you wanted to be-" she began.

"Who is Mustang?" I interrupted, taking a bite of food.

She sighed. "I wondered if you were awake for that talk," she said. "He's a State Alchemist." Pinako said the words _State Alchemist_ as if they were cursed. "He's also a friend of your father's."

"What? I have to go to him!" I said, suddenly invigorated.

"No in that condition you're not. You can't even stand on your own, much less perform Alchemy!" Pinako said. "As I was saying before you interrupted, I wanted to know: Do you want to be fitted with automail?" she asked.

I opened my mouth to say yes, of I do! But my voice died in my throat as I remembered a procedure that Pinako and Winry had done a few years ago, attaching automail to a hardened war veteran - a decorated war hero, no less - who had come back from battle and had lost his leg. I had to sit outside, of course, but I could hear him just fine.

Screaming like a child.

I shook of the memory and my fear. _Alphonse had to go through worse, and he can't live like a normal human anymore!_ I thought.

"Yes, Aunt Pinako. I want to be fitted with automail," I said confidently.

"Well then, Winry and I better get started!" Pinako left the room.

 _Resembool, Amestris, 1912; Two weeks after the incident, Edward's POV_

I grunted loudly as Winry and Pinako continued to attach all my nerves to the automail ports, trying to resist thrashing around. My eyes were shut tight and my teeth clamped shut - And I was in a lot of pain.

I yelped as yet another nerve was connected.

"Just bare with me, Ed!" Winry said, trying to soothe me.

"You're a strong one, Ed. . ." Pinako muttered. "You know, it's okay to show pain."

"This is nothing. Nothing compared to what I put Alphonse through! I'm his older brother, and I'm supposed to protect him! But I put him in that body! Now he can't eat, he can't sleep, he can't feel warmth or cold, I'm his older brother and I did that do him! " I cried. "G-ah!" Another few nerves were connected.

"We're almost done, Edward, so just hold on," Pinako told me reassuredly.

I bit my lip as the last few nerves were connected, making it bleed. Once they were finished, I finally loosened up and felt myself be carried over to a recovery bed.

"You did a good job Ed- Most people are jerking around and making it difficult to attach the nerves, making the job sloppy. And most of the time we need to tie kids down in the middle of the procedure; they're thrashing too much," Pinako said.

"We'll attach the automail itself tomorrow," Winry said.

That was the last thing I remember before drifting off into a dreamless sleep.

"Ed. . ." somebody was shaking me. "Ed!" the next shake was a little stronger.

"I'll wake him up, Grandma," I heard Winry say.

The back of my head exploded in pain as Winry chucked a wrench at it. I fell out of the bed and hit my head again on the floor, making it hurt more.

"What's your problem, Winry?!" I yelled. "I was sleeping! And I'm in enough freaking pain as it is, gearhead!" I jumped to my foot and balanced myself using the bed for a support.

"So? Just because you're in pain doesn't mean you're allowed to sleep in all day!" Winry yelled back.

"Settle down, you two," Pinako intervened. "Edward, we're going to connect your automail now." She pulled a rolling table over, on it, a few tools and my automail arm and leg.

I closed my eyes and grit my teeth. I knew that this was going to hurt.

Pinako and Winry put the limbs in. Now all that was needed was to screw them in and connect the nerves.

"All right Ed," Winry said.

Pinako and Winry counted down together. "One, two. . ."

I gripped the couch tightly and hoped three would never come.

" _Three!_ "

" _B-Graah_! Son of a-" I felt the limbs pop into place and an enormous wave of pain flow through my nerves. But it stopped almost immediately stopped and all that was left was a dull sort of throbbing.

"See, that wasn't so bad, was it?" Pinako said.


	2. The Flame Alchemist

Chapter 2

The Flame Alchemist

 _Resembool, Amestris, 1912; Six months after Ed was fitted with automail, Edward's POV_

 _"I controlled myself. The damage to your skin isn't nearly as bad as it feels. You can call me Roy mustang or just Lieutenant Colonel. Hell, you can call me the Flame Alchemist._

 _"Whatever you do, remember the pain."_

 _-Lieutenant Colonel Roy Mustang, the Flame Alchemist_

Alphonse and I burned our home to the ground before we left for Central.

"You sure we've got _everything_?" Alphonse asked me as I donned my red coat.

"Yes, Al. Quit being such a worrywart!" I said, putting my white gloves on and closing my suitcase.

"The books? The chalk? The transmutation circles? The research no-"

" _Yes!_ Alphonse, I'm plenty sure we've got everything," I said, chuckling. "Now c'mon, or we'll be late for the train!" I grabbed a biscuit as I dashed out the door.

"Goodbye, Edward! You too, Alphonse!" Pinako called as we left. "Now, don't be strangers! Come visit us sometime!"

"You take good care of your automail, you hear?" Winry shouted. "Bye, Al!"

I ducked, expecting a wrench to come flying any moment. I let loose a sigh of relief when it didn't come.

"Goodbye, Winry, Pinako!" Al and I called back. "Be safe while we're gone!"

"Ha! Now _that's_ rich, coming from the boys who are joining the military!" Winry shouted back, laughing and waving.

Alphonse and I ran off to catch our train.

Since we arrived a early, we had to wait a little while. Al went to buy food (mainly because I asked him to) and I decided to call Mustang to tell him we were on our way.

"Uhhhh. . . Ah! Hello, Lieutenant Colonel Mustang Sir! Err. . ." I was really nervous, and I was forgetting what I had practiced to say.

"Loosen up, kid. You sound like you've been rehearsing this," Mustang said.

"Uh, well, I- Yes, Sir!" I said. "Anyway! I wanted to call to tell you that w're boarding the nine thirty train for Centeral.

"Ah, all right," said the State Alchemist. "Wait, isn't there and earlier train?" he asked.

"Well, yeah, but we got sidetracked and arrived here later than we wanted. I think it's leaving now-"

"Either get on that train _right now_ or go home!" he yelled into the phone.

"All aboard!" the conductor called. The train blew a piercing whistle.

"Right, Sir!" I hung up. "Hey Al! Boarding time!" I jogged off the board the train, Alphonse close in tow. We boarded just in time.

"Brother! You're going to burst! Stop eating so much, you big glutton!" Alphonse chided.

"I don't care," I said through a face full of food, "this stuff is delicious!" a drop of grease dropped off my chin into a bowl below my face.

Al sighed, looking out the window. "Train rides are so boring. . ."

I swallowed. "You know, Alphonse. . ." I said, reaching into my pocket and pulling a set of cards out. "I've got a nice card deck here and we've got a table." I dealt a round of cards. We played for a while - But eventually I got bored.

"Bored of what?" Alphonse asked. "Bored of winning? It's not my fault I'm not good at Sets and Runs!"

I leaned back, deciding I might take a nap for a little while - But then I overheard the conversation behind me.

". . . They say there's something not unlike the Philosopher's Stone in a cavern near the old ruins of Xerxes. . ." the man behind me said. I turned around and sat up over my seat.

"What do you mean, there's something like the Philosopher's Stone near Xerxes?" I asked suddenly. The man looked up at me.

"None of your business, kid!" he spat, clearly annoyed at my overhearing. "Damn eavesdropping kids. . ." he grumbled as he and his partner stood up and left to a different seat.

 _Probably so there won't be any 'damn eavesdropping kids' nearby,_ I thought angrily. I was just curious!

"What was that, brother?" Alphonse asked as I turned around and sat back down in my seat.

"They said that there was something like the Philosopher's Stone near the old ruins of Xerxes," I told him. "I remember reading about the Stone and the ruins in a book I read - The Stone is an Alchemic amplifier. It basically allows you to disregard the laws of equivalent exchange," I said.

"I remember. . ." he said. "But brother! They said that it was something dangerous to pursue - Many people have died trying to find it!"

"I know, Al." I looked out the window. "But they say it's something _like_ the Philosopher's Stone, not the Stone itself." The train stopped.

"There's out stop!" Al said. We stood up and grabbed our bags.

 _The Lieutenant Colonel said that he would send somebody to pick us up. . ._ I thought. A very large man in the uniform of the Amestrian military romped over to us.

"THE ELRIC BROTHERS, I PRESUME!" he shouted.

 _Well, I guess there's our escort._

"Uh-Y-e-Yes sir. . ." I stammered nervously. This guy was creeping me out, to put it lightly.

"I AM MAJOR ALEX LOUISE ARMSTRONG, THE STRONG ARM ALCHEMIST!" he yelled. "THE LIEUTENANT COLONEL ASKED ME TO ESCORT YOU, AND I SHALL, IN THE MOST GRACIOUS AND DELIGHTFUL WAY!"

"Er. . . Uh. . . Nice to meet you. I'm Edward Elric - This here is my younger brother, Alphonse." I stepped back.

"Wait, YOU are the aspiring Alchemist?! Boy, you're smaller than the-" Armstrong began.

"DON'T CALL ME SHORT! I'LL BREAK DOWN YOUR FEET AND STICK 'EM ON YOUR HEAD!" I yelled, fuming.

"Calm down kit, he didn't mean any harm," a new yet, familiar voice said. Major Armstrong moved out of the way, revealing the beholder of the voice.

He had obsidian eyes to match his hair. He wore the uniform the of the Amestrian military, like his jumbo friend the Major. His shoulders bore two golden stripes on the left and right with no stripe in the middle - instead, there were two golden stars.

This was the Lieutenant Colonel - Roy Mustang, the Flame Alchemist.

The man who spoke to Pinako when I was supposedly unconscious.

His hands bore white gloves that had the ignis transmutation circle sewn into them in red threat, and on his feet he wore plain black boots. On his left shoulder there was a bed orange ropelike thing, that meant he was an officer - Which was obvious, considering his shoulders. "So, you really came. You're gonna be the talk of the town, kid, being the only twelve year old to take the State Alchemy Exam!"

 _Central Command, Amestris, 1913; Edward's POV_

"Congratulations, kid," said the newly promoted Colonel. "You just became a dog of the military." Mustang tossed me a silver pocket watch with the symbol of Amestris on it - a dragon with a winding tail.

"You'd think there'd be more of a ceremony, becoming a State Alchemist - Maybe getting dubbed by the Fuhrer or something." The Flame Alchemist just smiled, opening a file.

"Well kid, you do sort of get something like that." He handed the file to me.

 _I write this letter to the Edward Elric._

 _If you are reading this letter, this means that you have completed the State Alchemy Exam and are hereby the youngest State Alchemist in history, and I hereby give you the title of 'Fullmetal.' Bare it well, my young Alchemist._

The last part seemed to be an afterthought.

 _You are rather young to be a State Alchemist - I wish you good luck, though you will not be coddled. It's not easy being a dog of the military. Wouldn't want to ruin the plans for the Amestrian Military, now, would you?_

I wondered what he meant by that.

"Fullmetal. . ." I said, letting the name roll off my tongue. "I like the sound of it. Heavy name,

"Tell the Fuhrer I won't let it weigh me down."

 _Central Command, Amestris, 1913; Alphonse's POV_

I decided to wait outside while Edward was speaking with the Colonel. I was sitting on the steps to the entrance to Central Command. I saw two military police dragging away a man covered in blood. He was laughing maniacally, babbling on about chopping until the pieces were to fine to chop.

"It's sad to see a man like that, reduced to madness. It's a grotesque scene too, seeing what he's done," a man beside me said. I looked up at him, startled, but it was just a Sergeant.

"It is sad. . . I wish things like that just didn't happen to people," I said.

"Say, you're Alphonse, Alphonse Elric, right?" he asked.

"Yeah, I'm Alphonse." I wondered why he was asking.

"They say that you and your brother. . . What was his name again?"

"Edward."

"Edward, passed the written part of the exam. Edward was the only one named State Alchemist this year, correct?"

"Mmhm."

"It's sad, to see somebody so young, taking on the life of a military dog." He looked at me. "Why did you drop out of the Exam?" he asked. "Wouldn't it make sense for the older brother, the one who would be better suited for the job of State Alchemist, become the State Alchemist?"

 _Oh no,_ I thought. _He doesn't realize that I'm the younger brother._

"Uh, well, you see, I'm the younger brother. Edward is my older brother."

The man looked embarrassed for a moment, but that was soon replaced with shock. "What? But you'r-"

"It's okay, I get it a lot. He hates milk; that might be why I'm so much bigger," I said. Edward came walking out, his signature red coat slung over his shoulder instead of wearing it. He pulled out a sliver pocket watch and showed it to me. "Brother!" I said. "You did it!"

"Yep. I'm the Fullmetal Alchemist," he said.

The Colonel walked up behind him. The Sergeant straightened up and saluted.

"Atease, soldier." Mustang waved his hand down.

"Welcome to the life of the military, Fullmetal."

 _Liore, Amestris, 1915; Edward's POV_

 _"They say the Philosopher's Stone has been discovered in Liore. I don't know about the authenticity of the Stone, or of the stories for that matter, but I guess it's worth a try. But it's completely up to you,"_ Mustang's voice rang in my head.

"Philosopher's Stone in Liore, eh?" I grumbled. "Of course- Our _closest_ lead in three years and this is what we get?!" I shouted, kicking the ground in my frustration. I looked at Alphonse. "I'm sorry, Al- I _will_ find a way to get your body back. No matter what it takes," I said.

 _". . . .They say there's something not unlike the Philosopher's Stone in a cavern near the old ruins of Xerxes. . ."_ a man's voice echoed in my mind.

". . . . Say Alphonse," I said.

"What?"

"How do you feel about a little sightseeing?"

* * *

A/N: I am so sorry about how long this took to get out! I've been busy with school and catching up on other Anime _and_ to top that off I've had writers block for all of my stories! I truly am sorry. *Bows head* I am a shameful author! This is hardly what somebody can call _good_! But I hope you enjoyed it anyway. :) So, erm, I've decided to name the transmutation circles. The human transmutation circle - That can just keep the name of human transmutation circle, but for the others I have come up with something lazy _and_ clever.

See, I speak Latin, so I'm using the words in Latin. (Or at least, I'm learning Latin.) So, for Roy's gloves, the fire transmutation circle on the back, it's just the ignis transmutation circle. (Ignis is Latin for fire.) So expect sciency sounding names but really they just are simple Latin words.


End file.
